By Emily C on Sunday, November 8, 2015 at 2:51pm
I feel that as a hermit crab caretaker, it's important to know who they are, where they have come from, what they have been through, and how drastic their lives have changed. It's our responsibility to learn about them, give them what they need and more, and respect them for who they are. Crabs have been through a lot of cruelty just to end up in our tanks unfairly. We owe it to them to give them the best, treat them how they deserve, and love them for who they are and not who we want them to be. It is unfair to place unrealistic expectations on them simply because humans naturally want to be entertained. Crabs are not and never will be domesticated or eager to please us. They do not exist for our entertainment or enjoyment. Those who truly respect them, are the ones who realize this and love them anyway. Those are the people who are entertained and enjoy them because of who they really are.
It takes a special kind of person and a special kind of heart to love hermit crabs. Humans are predators to them, their natural defense is to hide and pinch. They are small animals and preyed upon, even by the humans who scoop them up, force them into toxic shells, store them away violently, ship them off, and put them into an unnatural, tiny home full of dangers where their best hope is to find somebody who knows how to properly take care of them. Where they can finally be in a good temperature range and actually breathe properly again, even though their gills have probably been damaged beyond repair at this point. It isn't fair, it isn't right. They go through so much to end up in our tanks and they deserve nothing less than the very best we can possibly give them. They deserve people who care, even though they will never be able to understand they are loved. They deserve people who will do what is needed for THEM, the crabs, even if it causes stress on the people who are taking care of them.
- They need a lot of hiding places, even if it means they will rarely be seen, because this is what makes them feel safe and secure, something every being deserves. They thrive on being able to be stress free, and need privacy that we have to give them even if it's not in our nature to leave them alone.
- They need adequate heat, humidity, and a gauge to monitor it even if it means a small investment of purchasing heat mats, insulation, bubblers, and more.
- They need shells, a lot of them, and not just the ones from the craft store, they need popular hermit varieties that you can get online, even if you have to pay more for the shipping than the cost of the shells, or even if you mess up and order the wrong size and have to place another order. Our discomfort is worth their happiness and health. Shells protect them from harm in multiple ways, this isn't something you can skimp on.
- They deserve a large, secure enclosure that they can properly live in, even if it means making room you don't have. They didn't ask to be taken from their home where they could roam freely, just so they could be put into a home where they are trapped. We owe it to them to go as large as we possibly can, realizing that anything less than a 29 gallon is not an acceptable long term home.
- They deserve good foods, and a variety of them, and not poisonous foods that have been designed just for them (gag!), even if it means having little baggies or containers everywhere.
- They deserve proper substrate so they can shed their exo, even if it means that when they are down molting, we are watching the tank in worry, wondering if they are alive. They teach us patience in a lot of ways, but if we provide the goods for them to be safe and healthy, we need to trust that this is what they do. Crabs are always in a stage of molting, it is literally what they live for. It's how they grow and stay healthy. They deserve to be able to do it as safely as possible since they are in an enclosed tank. That means having high substrate to half their tank, of the right materials.
- They deserve people who understand their anatomy/biology, as well as their personalities, so they can be left alone as much as possible and handled only when absolutely necessary. They are look at pets, not touching pets. By taking them out of their tank, people need to realize they will act on instinct if they get scared. They also need to realize that holding them for any amount of time is not only stressful, but lack of steady temperature is damaging to their metabolism and lack of humidity is damaging to their gills. Would you want somebody to hold your head under cold water until you can't breathe? Because that's how it feels for them. I'd pinch, too.
- They deserve deep pools of safely treated fresh and salt water for moisture, drinking, for sanitary reasons, for molting sustenance, for their own enjoyment..even if it takes up a lot of room or is a nuisance to change out.
- They deserve our understanding that every crab is different and we can't expect too much out of them. They are who they are. Some crabs aren't very scared of people at all and may not hide when you stick your hand in the tank to change food/water/moss pit, while others might run and hide if they see you coming from 10 feet away. Some crabs greet you at the glass and wave their feelers at you, while others might sleep in a spot for weeks at a time and barely move. Some crabs might like swimming, or climbing, or digging, while others are basically playing a game of hide and seek. Some crabs may be active all the time, where others you never quite know where they are. Some crabs may spend half a year underground, some might be down there a month out of the year. Some crabs may act like they want to be held in the tank, or may want to be hand fed, where some crabs may basically live in the moss pit away from you. New crabs especially deserve the privacy it takes to make them feel comfortable, which may be one week, or may take two years. Crabs who are not always stressed out, meaning crabs who get the most privacy, are the most likely to be the most active.
Hermit crabs are a life long commitment. Their life span rivals ours. This means sometimes they will be active, sometimes they will be lazy. You take the risk that you may end up with crabs who don't really do much of anything. It's your job to still provide for them properly, and respect them for who they are. It's almost insulting to see people complain about being pinched when they should know better than to mess with them, or calling a crab boring when that crab is likely scared to death and dealing with damage that we cannot see. Crabs are amazing pets, they are therapeutic for many people. Simple things they do like eat (everybody eats!), sitting above the pools, cleaning out their shells, changing into a new shell, or piling up on a hidey hut are things that entertain us and bring us happiness, and all it is for them is a day in the life of a crab. That's why hermit crab lovers are special. They care, they understand, they respect. Crabs teach us a lot, but it's up to us to listen. Taking advice on here, reading our files, searching the group, it's all part of the process. Research matters. That's how you learn to give them what they need, what they enjoy, and how you learn to respect and love them for who they are, despite what it means for you. Crabbing is not about us, crabbing is about them. Learn to love it.
Writing Credits: Emily C